Local People's Congress Representative, Journalists Beaten While Covering Taishi Village Incident

Lu Banglie, a local people's congress representative escorting an British journalist seeking to report on events in Taishi village, Guangdong province, was beaten by a number of unidentified individuals on October 9, according to an October 10 Guardian report and an October 11 South China Morning Post (SCMP) report (subscription required). Similarly, reporters working for Radio France and the SCMP were assaulted on October 7, according to an October 10 SCMP article (subscription required).

In September, township officials suppressed a campaign by Taishi residents to use national election laws to recall the village committee head, whom they accused of embezzling village funds. Village and township officials have tried to curtail outside reporting on the Taishi incident, which has generated foreign and Chinese news media attention. The British journalist accompanying Lu stated that they were stopped by a group of men wearing a mix of different uniforms. Although the assailants were not identified by the reports, locally-recruited police assistants often help police bureaus to maintain social order.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesman criticized foreign reporters for covering the incident during an October 11 press briefing. U.S. Embassy officials have expressed concern to the MFA about the violence in Taishi and asked for an investigation, according to an October 11 statement by the State Department spokesman.